MUMBAI: The Sensex shed intraday losses and moved back in the positive terrain supported by rate-sensitive stocks like auto and banks after the June WPI inflation eased to 7.25 percent compared to 7.55 percent a month ago. An ET Now poll expected it to be at 7.6 percent.

The WPI inflation for food articles rose to 10.81 percent versus 10.74 percent in May and the June WPI primary articles inflation dipped to 10.46 percent versus 10.8 percent in May.

At 12:05 p.m., the 30-share BSE benchmark index was at 17,234.99, up 21.29 points or 0.12 percent. It has touched a high of 17,282.30 and a low of 17,162.13 today.

The Nifty was at 5,234.60, up 7.35 points or 0.14 percent. It has touched a high of 5,246.85 and a low of 5,209.20 today.

"The Nifty snapped the five-week winning streak with a weekly negative close indicating an end to the upward cycle from the low of 4,770. A retracement of the upmove now follows that has a target of 5,125 (i.e., the minimum 38.2 percent retracement mark). Momentum oscillator MACD has rolled over underlining the short-term bearish outlook.

The weekly momentum setup, however, is contradictory indicating an intermediate bullish setup. The immediate upside is capped at 5,300 and should be used as a stoploss for trading shorts," an Edelweiss report noted.

The BSE Midcap Index and the BSE Smallcap Index were up 0.04 percent each.

Among sectoral indices, the BSE Healthcare Index was up 1.44 percent, the BSE Auto Index gained 0.61 percent and the BSE Bankex was up 0.60 percent. The BSE Metal Index was down 1.29 percent, the BSE IT Index fell 1.27 percent and the BSE Realty Index declined 0.54 percent.